​US ‘sabotages’ visit by Russian experts for talks on WTO

The US barred a group of Russian agriculture officials from entering the country for a planned negotiation over Kazakhstan’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

The talks were to be held between Tuesday and Thursday in
Washington. Russian experts from Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal
Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) were to
help Russia’s partner in the Customs Union to harmonize Kazakh
local regulations with those used by WTO members.

“Less than a day before the scheduled flight the US Embassy
informed via email and phone the deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor,
Nikolay Vlasov, who was to head the Russian negotiation team,
that the visit of the Russian experts is unacceptable for the
US,” the agriculture regulator said in a statement.

The statement branded the US move “sabotage.”

The Kazakh team had no problems going to the US, the statement
said.

The visa denial comes after the US threatened Russia with
economic isolation over its stance on Ukraine. Russia approved a
possible deployment of Russian troops in Ukraine, if it were
needed for protection of ethnic Russians living there from
violence.

The self-proclaimed government in Kiev called it “a declaration
of war” and announced military mobilization.